Foot-operated switch



- Sept. 9, 1969 G. H. MARTIN 3,465,411

FOOT-OPERATED SWITCH Filed April 17. 1968 INVENTOR. y 2 660%,: H MW,

United States Patent 3,466,411 FOOT-OPERATED SWITCH George H. Martin, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, assignor to The Martin Brothers Electric Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 17, 1968, Ser. No. 721,968 Int. Cl. H01h 3/14; A47c 3/20; H02p N16 US. Cl. ZOO-86.5 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Foot actuated means for controlling the height of a power driven adjustable chair, such as a barber chair, from any position around the chair. In particular a footcontrolled actuating bar surrounding the base of the chair and pivotally supported thereon for rocking movement into actuating engagement of one of two switches mounted on the chair base and connected in controlling relationship to a motor that raises and lowers the chair.

Background of the invention This invention relates to power driven, height adjustable chairs, such as a barber chair, and more particularly to foot operated controls for controlling the raising and lowering of such chairs.

Height adjustable chairs are well known in the art. Such chairs are widely used by persons such as dentists and barbers to assist them in placing the chair occupant at the optimum height for the particular service to be performed.

One of the problems associated with the use of a height adjustable chair has been a convenient means for controlling its positioning. The controls are normally foot actuated to free the hands of the chair operator.

Foot actuated control means for raising and lowering a chair have been devised. One example of such means is a pedal that can be depressed of raised by the foot to raise or lower the chair seat. However, there still remains inconvenience in such an arrangement in that the pedal remains stationary while the barber or dentist must move to different locations around the chair in the course of performing his services. Thus, the foot operated pedal is not always easily reached when needed.

Summary of the invention A general object of the invention is to provide a foot operated control that overcomes the difficulties'noted above which are encountered with single location, pedal type foot controls. A particular object is the provision of a simple and fool-proof foot operated control that may be actuated easily and conveniently from any position around the chair.

A preferred embodiment of my invention is used in conjunction with a chair having a base, a seat frame mounted on a column extending from the base, and a reversible motor for raising and lowering the column and seat frame.

Briefly, a preferred embodiment of my invention comprises the combination of an actuating bar surrounding the lower portion of the chair base, means for supporting the bar at two spaced apart locations along the perimeter thereof for limited rocking movement in a generally horizontal plane, and two pressure actuated switches disposed beneath the bar at generally opposite sides thereof and adapted to have actuating engagement with the bar when it is rocked. The switches are arranged to connect a power source to the reversible motor to cause the motor to raise or lower the chair. One of the switches connects the conductors of the power source to the motor 3,466,411 Patented Sept. 9, 1969 ice to cause it to rotate in one direction while the second switch reverses the motor connections to cause it to rotate in the opposite direction. A switch is actuated by depressing or raising one side of the bar with the foot. Depressing one side of the bar will cause it to rock about its support means and actuate one of the switches, for example, to raise the chair. Since the switches are disposed on opposite sides of the bar they cannot be actuated simultaneously.

Since the bar completely surrounds the base of the chair the foot control may be operated by the dentist or barber from any location around the chair. Thus, raising or lowering of the chair may be accomplished without the inconvenience of groping for a stationary misplaced pedal.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the base of a height adjustable chair employing a form of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic diagram of the power connections to a reversible motor illustrating the use of the switches to reverse the power connections to the motor.

Description of the preferred embodiments A preferred form and embodiment of my invention is shown in FIGURE 1 disposed about the base of a chair for controlling the raising and lowering of the chair seat. The chair base is generally designated B and has a flat, outwardly flaring supporting portion 10 and an upwardly extending portion 11 of generally hyperbolic shape. An extensible and retractable chair support column 13 projects upwardly from portion 11 and raises and lowers a chair seat attached thereto. The chair seat per se forms no part of this invention and is not shown in the draw- An actuating bar 16, which in this illustrative embodiment is a ring, encircles chair base B and is supported by post-like ring supports 14 and 15 positioned on portion 10 at generally diametrically opposite points thereon. Ring 16 is pivotally connected to and supported by supports 14 and 15 so that the ring is free to rock about an imaginary axis AA through support 14 and support 15.

Also mounted on the supporting portion of chair base B are normally open switches 17 and 18. These switches are disposed on opposite sides of the imaginary axis AA through ring supports 14 and 15 and may conveniently be located at diametrically opposite points beneath ring 16. Normally open switches 17 and 18 are preferably push-button type switches provided with spring biased plungers 20 and 21 respectively. When plungers 20 and 21 are depressed, the switches are closed. The switches are positioned so that rocking movement of ring 16 about imaginary axis AA permits ring 16 to contact and depress one and the other of the plungers 20 and 21. Closing one switch causes the chair seat to raise and closing the other switch causes the chair seat to lower as more fully described below.

Ring 16 may be depressed or raised from any location around the chair and thus the raising and lowering of the chair may be controlled from any location about the chair. When the chair operator is on one side of the axis AA through ring supports 14 and 15 depressing of the ring on that side of the chair actuates, for example, switch 18 while raising of the ring actuates switch 17.

FIGURE 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the connections provided by switches 17 and 18 of the leads from a power source to the reversible drive motor of the chair. In FIGURE 2, a reversible motor 23 is connected in any suitable manner as at 24 to a power source or line through switch 17 or 18. Both switches 17 and 18 are normally open and reversible motor 23 is not energized. When switch 17 is actuated power source 24 is connected to reversible motor 23 causing the motor through appropriate coupling means (not shown) to move column 13 in a predetermined direction. When switch 18 is actuated the power connections 24 to motor 23 are reversed causing the motor to rotate in the opposite direction and move column 13 in the opposite direction. Because of the physical placement of the actuating portions of switches 17 and 18 they cannot be closed simultaneously by operation of ring 16.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that reversible motor 23 may be replaced by two uni-directional motors, one for raising, the other for lowering shaft 13. In such case switch 17 would control one motor and switch 18 would control the other.

In operation, when the dentist, barber or other chair operator is located on the same side of axis AA as the switch 18, for example, and desires to raise the chair, he depresses ring 16 at the point adjacent his foot. Switch 18 is actuated connecting reversible motor 23 to the line in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 2. The motor rotates in one direction and, for example, moves column 13 upward and raises the chair seat. Conversely, when the chair is to be lowered by the operator While at the same location lifting of the adjacent portion of ring 16 actuates switch 17 energizing motor 23 in the opposite sense and lowering the chair. When the chair operator is located on the opposite side of the chair and of axis AA raising or lowering of the chair, respectively, is initiated by foot actions opposite to those taken in the previous example. Thus, from any position about the chair and on either side of axis AA, the chair may be raised or lowered by raising or depressing the adjacent portion of ring 16.

Various modifications may be made in the form of my invention illustrated herein. For example, ring supports 14 and 15 may be located at other points and at other spacings around the base than on axis AA as illustrated in FIGURE 1 by the dotted outline supports 14 and 15'. In such case, the same foot action serves to raise and to lower the chair over substantially more than half of the circumference of ring 16 and thus in a much greater number of locations around the chair. Thus, if the chair is seldom operated from one location around it the ring supports can be positioned so that a smaller portion of the circumference of the operating ring is adjacent that location and the larger portion of the ring circumference covers the range of usual operating locations. In this way, raising and lowering of the chair may be accomplished by the same foot actions throughout all the normally used locations about it.

While I have shown and described a preferred and a modified embodiment of this invention it is understood that the concepts thereof could be employed in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a floor mounted chair base having a generally vertically extensible and retractible chair supporting column and motor means for raising and lowering said column, the combination of foot-controlled actuating bar surrounding said base, a pair of means for supporting said bar circumferentially spaced about said base, pivotal connecting means securing said bar to each of said support means for rocking movement about a generally horizontal axis defined by said pair of support means and said 'pivotal connecting means, and first and second switches disposed on opposite sides of the axis defined by said support means and beneath said bar for switch actuating engagement therewith, said first switch controlling motor means for raising said column and said second switch controlling said motor means for lowering said column.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said support means comprises a pair of posts mounted on said base at circu'mferentially spaced points on the perimeter thereof.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said actuating bar is circular in shape, said posts are mounted at diametrically spaced locations on said base and said switches are mounted at diametrically spaced locations on said base, the diameter between said posts being peripendicular to the diameter between said switches.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said motor means comprises a reversible motor, said first switch connects said motor for rotation in one direction, and said second switch connects said motor for rotation in the opposite direction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,785,243 3/1957 Benander.

3,143,332 8/1964 Waltington 297347 3,172,699 3/1965 Naughton 297330 3,179,369 4/1965 Hale 297347 3,305,822 2/1967 Dlouhy et al 297347 3,311,407 3/1967 Horie 297347 HERMAN O. JONES, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

